1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealing device for a timing belt cover and an engine mount bracket. More particularly, it is concerned with a device for sealing between a timing belt cover attached to an engine of a vehicle and an engine mount bracket extending through the opening of the timing belt cover.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a front engine front drive vehicle, an engine is normally transversally mounted on the vehicle in the state that its longitudinal axis is directed orthogonally to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The transversally mounted engine is supported by the body of the vehicle at the front, rear, right and left ends of the engine. To the right end of the transversally mounted engine is attached a timing belt cover, which prevents water, dust, pebbles or the like from getting into the space between the timing belt cover and the engine where a timing belt is disposed, thereby protecting the timing belt. An engine mount bracket supporting the engine at the right end thereof penetrates the timing belt cover and extends from the engine towards the body of the vehicle through an opening of the timing belt cover. Since the position where the engine mount bracket penetrates the timing belt cover has not, heretofore, been sealed at all, there has been a likelihood of entry of water, dust or the like into the space between the timing belt cover and the engine through said opening of the timing belt cover.
In order to eliminate such a likelihood, the applicant of the present invention previously proposed a sealing device for a timing belt cover and an engine mount bracket of a construction such that a rib is formed on the engine mount bracket near the opening of the timing belt cover and the surface of said rib is opposite to the portion of the timing belt cover surrounding the opening and a plate-like gasket made of sponge is interposed between said rib of the engine mount bracket and said portion of the timing belt cover surrounding the opening to thereby seal the opening (see Japanese Utility Model Application No. 74633/1982 not laid open yet). Such a sealing device as proposed above is also advantageous in that both a dimensional variation in manufacture of the engine mount bracket and that of the timing belt cover can be absorbed by deformation of the sponge gasket.
Since in such a sealing device, however, the sponge gasket is held and compressed between the rib and the portion of the timing belt cover surrounding the opening, the sponge gasket is permanently deformed during use, thereby likely causing a gap due to said permanent deformation. Consequently, a perfect sealing can not be performed.
Such a permanent deformation of sponge can be prevented by utilizing rubber in place of sponge as the material for the gasket. In this connection, however, since a plate-like rubber gasket exhibits a large reaction force when compressed, there arises another problem such that the timing belt cover undergoes larger strain and deformation. As mentioned above, the gasket made of sponge involves the problem of its permanent deformation, and the gasket made of rubber in place of sponge involves the problem of deformation of the timing belt cover.